The latest version of Google Earth has come out of beta, version 4 has added higher-quality terrain data for many mountainous regions, they have added support for textured 3D buildings, which just means that bricks look like bricks and glass looks like glass, giving it a more real world look. This is just the latest step in bringing you a true 3D world model of planet Earth. Download the latest version of Google Earth by clicking this link

Google Earth is much more than just a mapping software. It’s a tool for viewing, creating and sharing location-specific information which can be explored in an interactive and visually intuitive interface. Below are examples KML (Google Earth file format) files created by users and organizations around the world, viewable in Google Earth.

Featured Content:
United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) includes successive time-stamped images illustrating 100 areas of extreme environmental degradation around the world.

Discovery Networks World Tour enables you to take a virtual tour of major world landmarks, cities, and natural wonders through Google Earth.

Jane Goodall Institute you can visit Flirt and the other Gombe preserve chimpanzees and follow their daily exploits with the Institute’s “geo-blog” in Google Earth.

National Geographic this features articles, pictures, live webcams and more around the world from National Geographic.

Tracks 4 Africa – Community generated map data across part of Africa along with photographs and interesting snippets about various places.

Spotlight on Africa – Flags and snippets of information about the 53 sovereign nations of Africa

Rumsey Historical Maps – Historical maps around the world spanning from year 1680 to 1892, including a Map of Africa from 1787.

European Space Agency More satellite imagery of beautiful places and phenomena around the world .

Here are some of the KMZ files you can click on to open special content in Google Earth.Panormino A huge collection of shared photos from around the world.